The Respectability of Torture
St Mary’s University College, Thurs 1st August, 7.30pm
Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, was a whistleblower who was removed from his ambassadorial post by Tony Blair for exposing the Tashkent regime‟s use of rape and systematic torture, including the boiling to death of political opponents. He has also spoken out against Central Asia‟s appalling dictatorships, regimes which are allies of the West, involved in torture and rendition, and was accused of threatening MI6‟s relationship with the CIA. Now a human rights activist, author and broadcaster, he outlines the dynamics of torture and the hypocrisy of incriminated Western governments.
My first public appearance for a while will be in Belfast on 1 August where I shall be giving a talk. Long term readers of this blog will recall that, while my focus is largely on international affairs, the domestic political achievements I most hope to see are a united Ireland and an independent Scotland.
And while the White House is busy denying Obama’s visit to Sweden on 4 Sept has anything to do with Assange – though it’s the first visit by a US President to Sweden ever, outside of a G20-type convention –
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/316227-carney-obamas-sweden-trip-not-to-commiserate-about-snowden-assange
Carl Bildt has been busy inviting William Hague for a little tete-a-tete later this month:
https://twitter.com/carlbildt/status/365749692673425412
Perhaps it’s that they’ve finally heard everyone’s calls for greater transparency and have decided to go the whole hog by being completely transparent?
Excellent Hague catch, Arbed. Considering that both ministers’ protocol departments had arrived at a firm date not less than two months ago, and that the hotel and plane were booked at the end of July (a guess, but is that unlikely?), what a charmingly democratic way of announcing the happy event as if it had only just occurred to them! Hague is truuly down wiv da street, bruv, even if he can’t quite do Tim Westwood from Yorkshire pretending to be Churchill….
He’s always been transparent, though. Anyone can see right through him.
Mmm, K, I know.
Did you notice William Hague “accepts” the invitation in the same twitter thread? Since when did state Foreign Ministries start doing their diplomatic business via Twitter, ffs? It’s absurd! No, read “message” writ loud – this sort of thing is Carl Bildt’s standard MO. But he’s a lot less clever than he thinks he is. Plonkers.
That’s exactly what struck me, Arbed. I think we’re seeing a new low in PR here.
But kudos to Younis al-Hassani ( I think it was) who wishes the foreign ministers of Sweden and Britain ‘eid mubarak’. In Arabic.
Where are the Twitter trolls when you need them?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2013/aug/08/martin-rowson-silly-season
A friend and fellow supporter of the cause for justice for the Palestinians wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b037v4q1/BBC_Proms_2013_Season_Prom_34_Vivaldi_The_Four_Seasons/
@ 1:31:13 as the applause died down following the performance of the Four Seasons (improvised-with-Arabic-interludes), Nigel Kennedy spoke:
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a bit facile to say it, but we all know from experiencing this night of music tonight, that given equality and getting rid of apartheid gives a beautiful chance for amazing things to happen.”
That was followed by NK and a 15 year old Palestinian violinist playing the slow movement of Vivaldi’s A minor Concerto for two violins. The concert ended with NK’s own composition “Fallen Forest”.
As …. wrote: “The initial applause and the inter-work applause is amazingly enthusiastic. I imagine the young members of the orchestra will remember this occasion for the rest of their lives. It is great to see – or hear – them enjoying such an amazing reception from an informed and cultured audience. They will have great stories to take back with them to Palestine for now and all time.”
It would be lovely if somebody who actually went to the concert would let us know what it was like to be there and if they have any idea what caused the nearly 15 minute delay at the start. (and if the PStrings wore their keffiyehs?)
For programme notes see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037v4q1
The concert will be shown on BBC 4 on Friday 23rd August at 7.30 pm. In the meantime, NK will be at the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 7 Sept at 7.30 pm http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2013/september-07/14574
You got me looking them up John Goss.
Oh my goodness! http://www.traditionalbritain.org/about
President: The Lord Sudeley, F.S.A
Vice President: Gregory Lauder-Frost
Who they?
Sudely, above, FJ. K @ 1158.
Though I don’t expect you to read that either.
LOL Moggy at the TBG Dinner
Traditional Britain Dinner 2013
Friday, 17 May 2013 – 7:30pm
Central London
Jacob Rees-Mogg, M.P., was the guest-of-honour at the Traditional Britain Group’s packed Annual Dinner on Friday 17th May 2013, held at London’s prestigious East India Club. Also present was Lord Kilclooney of Armagh, possibly better known to many as John Taylor, former Ulster Unionist M.P., and Monday Club member, who said Grace and also spoke briefly. This dinner was the climax of another successful year for the TBG and commenced with a drinks Reception, a convivial occasion.
In his speech, and subsequent answers to questions from the attendees, Mr. Rees-Mogg expressed his disappointment with the EU, with his party’s attempts to redefine marriage and with abortion-on-demand, but toed the Party line on other matters. Gregory Lauder-Frost, our Vice-President, presided and thanked Mr.Rees-Mogg on behalf of the TBG presenting him with a gift from us.
The following day we held our Annual General Meeting, also packed, which was addressed by Christopher Gillibrand on matters of tradition within The Church and in politics.
~~
Pics of stuffed shirts https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.504721299581868.1073741825.117717461615589&type=1
Mary asks;
“President: The Lord Sudeley, F.S.A
Vice President: Gregory Lauder-Frost
Who they?”
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.504721299581868.1073741825.117717461615589&type=1
They’re the Habbies.
This is my favourite one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Monckton,_3rd_Viscount_Monckton_of_Brenchley
a tireless worker for all manner of lost causes.
Chaps like these used to run the British Empire, but became an embarrassment when populism took off.
These days, everyone’s more equal, so it’s OK to laugh at them.
Another distraction.
Herbie….I am assuming that was 100% British wine, brandy and coffee that the cast of “If” were drinking, there. Otherwise – how utterly shameful. Bounders.
Gregory Lauder Frost looks a bit more interesting. His outspokenness re Jewish people may eventually doom him however (see link, halfway down the page).
Convicted criminal Lauder Frost was jailed for two years in 1992 after being found guilty of eight charges of embezzling money from the Riverside health authority. The court was told he had channelled money into extreme right-wing political causes. It emerged at the end of his trial that he had also been implicated in attempts to sell elderly Russian arms to far right groups in the USA.
Lauder Frost has a history of far right connections. One of those connections includes Clive Derby-Lewis who was jailed for life for his role in the murder of the ANC leader Chris Hani in 1993.
Former BNP member Lauder Frost is also a former member of the Conservative Party’s Monday Club as well as the Western Goals Institute, and is now Vice President of the Traditional Britain Group.
http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/article/1997/civil-liberty-or-just-old-fashioned-anti-semitism
For absurdists, pysl and enjoy:
http://w3.newsmax.com/newsletters/uwr/video_money_codea.cfm?promo_code=14405-1
How many damn presenters do you need when you are imposing on credulity? Gave up before I finished counting.
The theory of Barracuda states that it is enough for one barracuda to understand which half of a bait fish contains the hook and snip at it accordingly, for all the other barracudas in the ocean to follow suit.
If a few Pakistanis start wearing long beards and killing every infidel in sight, a similar mass hysteria may be expected to envelope the rest of the tribe, without any apparent communication among them. We have not yet discovered that particular law of “physics” but David Bohm of Krishnamurthy circle has alluded to it.
In effect if a captive audience like a habba here is “barracudad” that the Almighty was also SILENT during WW2 not just the Pope of Rome, the sobering realization on his part will temper the hubris of even the most inveterate of his mad ilk occupying the West Bank spitting on the Palestinian inhabitants there. All without any exchange of email or text messages!
Now for the next barracuda!
Practically speaking if a “warner” arises in Pakistan tomorrow who effectively gets hundreds of Islamists into clean shaving from henceforth (or equivalent behavior), a corresponding effect on the rest of the masses will arise and if it reaches a “critical mass” the “jinn” will be extinguished, peace will be reestablished and the various sects can live peacefully again, as before. This is of course the constant push n pull we are seeing today between the jimmy carters/mandelas/tutus and satanyahu & co. After hardship cometh ease.
Kerry and Hagel are meeting Lavrov and the Russian defence secretary Shoygu in Washington.
We are all hockey players. Sometimes we have collisions – Kerry
We have the same interests – Hagel
Military co-operation discussed – Hagel
Syria is our priority – Lavrov
We must act like grown ups – Lavrov
All sweetness and light ostensibly. Wonder what is being cooked up.
~~
PS Eiffel Tower closed. Terrrrr alert.
Komodo, 12.30pm
Here’s the official FCO statement confirming Hague’s visit to Sweden on 28-29 August.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-william-hague-announces-visit-to-sweden
Well, as Carl Bildt’s “Twitter invitation” is timestamped 6 hours ago as at the time of writing this, and Hague’s Twitter “acceptance” is timestamped 3 hours ago, what busy, busy bees they are at the FCO to set all this up in record time. Wonder what prompted this blue-arse fly level of activity…?
announced Wednesday 7 August… Kempe couldn’t see what I saw in this tweet when I first posted it here and pooh-poohed a bit as wild speculation, but it all seems so blatant, so obvious, to me.
Hope this works:
Swedish MD Files Police Complaint Against Barack Obama for War Crimes http://rixstep.com/1/20130809,00.shtml
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=95&artikel=5612748
I visited this abandoned railway station in the early ‘noughties’ when on a birdwatching holiday in the Pyrénées. Memories – wonderful mountain scenery, the fast flowing rivers, alpine meadows full of flowers and amazing birds of prey circling on the thermals. Such clean air too. We stayed in a small town called Jaca which is on one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, waymarked with scallop shell signposts.
The station was a strange place to come across in that location and rather spooky as it was so obviously deserted. There were very long platforms. You could tell that it had once been opulent. I can remember the hotel alongside.
We were not told about the D A R K M A T T E R experiments being carried on deep underground though!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2387682/The-abandoned-Nazi-railway-station-mountains-fell-disrepair–hides-secret-laboratory-researching-dark-matter.html
“Secret laboratory”? — http://www.lsc-canfranc.es/en/
I’d imagine that Hague and Bildt informally decided on the visit sometime around June 19th, Arbed. Once YouGov had assured Hague that Assange wasn’t flavour of the month (among a small poll – 1921 British adults, location unknown))
http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/06/19/assange-unpopular-unwanted/
OOooo. Errrr. DARK MATTER!!! Undoubtedly made by US neocons out of rendered kittens….
FJ – don’t panic, eh? They’re doing high-energy physics and looking for fleeting events. None of which is going to harm you in the least.
And another one nites the dust…
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/09/silent_circle_shutters_email_service/
That’s TORmail, Lavabit and now Silent Circle all gone in the last week.
bites the dust!
All of these groups stem from The Conservative Monday Club. That would include UKIP as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Monday_Club
You can actually trace the trajectory of post war British politics through the relative fortunes of The Monday Club and you can see a similar process at work in the Labour party, where once prominent views are now marginalised.
And what’s really really weird is that you see the same thing in US politics.
How is it that you get this consistency of policy across the western world?
AA; Silent circle claims they have been considering pulling the plug for a while. Maybe they are going the extra mile for their handlers, rather than the boilerplate ‘no comment’.
I was looking for a connection for Foxy to these right wing Tory outfits. This headline intrigued me on a news search. It is not what it seems!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10220570/Solicitor-General-is-stymied-in-his-bid-to-hang-Liam-Fox.html
Nothing like him IMHO.
Interesting little snippet on Miliband D follows.
~~
Thanks for the link to LSC AlcAnon and I was only joking Komodo on D A R K M A T T E R!
PS Where is WERRITTY?
Komodo, 4.10pm
Thanks for the link to the YouGov poll, that’s hilarious. Well, what do they expect when they misinform their survey sample by putting lies like this in their article:
“Assange went to the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape and sexual assault charges”.
Yes, the old “charges” chestnut. No wonder 95% of the comments beneath disagree with the poll results.
“Miliband already has with him Ravi Gurumurthy, once his bag-carrier at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who quit his job as an adviser on the much-vaunted Energy Bill at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, to join him.”
That’ll be Krishnan Guru-Murthy’s brother, Ravi, who’s David Milliband’s advisor in Amerika.
The Establisment is dead. Long live the new establishment.
Is his name supposed to be hyphenated, anyone know, or is that just some kind of legacy affectation?